Mapitigama Buddharakkitha

Mapitigama Buddharakkitha (1921-1967) was the Chief Priest of the Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara Buddhist temple in Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. He was one of the conspirators behind the 1959 assassination of Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike.

Biography
Mapitigama Buddharakkitha was born in Ceylon in 1921, and he became the Chief Priest of the Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara in 1947, serving until 1959. He played an important role in bringing Sri Lanka Freedom Party politicial S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike to power as Prime Minister in the 1956 parliamentary elections, and he was seen as a virtual kingmaker. Buddharakkitha was also a rich businessman who routinely consumed whiskey (an offense for a Buddhist monk) and had a sexual relationship with Health Minister Vimala Wijewardene. In 1959, after Bandaranaike refused to give out construction contracts to Buddharakkitha and other special interest leaders, Buddharakkitha had Bandaranaike assassinated by Talduwe Somarama. Buddharakkitha was ironically the first person to express his anger and sadness over the assassination on the radio, and it was not until 1961 that he was imprisoned and sentenced to death. This was later commuted to hard labor, and he died in prison in 1967.